There's An 80ft-High Staircase In South Korea That's Shaped Like A Roller Coaster

A mega 80ft-high staircase in South Korea has been designed to be shaped like a rollercoaster.

Named 'SpaceWalk', the 1,092ft long steel track is made for strollers rather than rollers, and is situated in the hills of Hwanho Park in the city of Pohang, South Korea.

LED lights are fixed around the giant staircase, which start to stand out beautifully in the night sky and look pretty stunning. However, the people who created the whirly structure say the aim is to make people feel like they are walking 'through space'.

It can hold 250 people at once and there's a central staircase customers can access prior to choosing which out of the two tracks they would like to go on.

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As one might imagine, one track is supposed to be slightly more challenging than the other, while the other caters for people who aren't into overly excessive inclines on the treadmill.

Although the staircase is 80ft high, the highest point customers will be able to visit is 65ft above the ground, MailOnline reports.

The whole point of getting so high off the ground is to capture the 'perfect place from which to observe the surrounding area, the night sky, and the sunrise and sunset'.

Those who are daring enough to walk the windy path will catch a ‘magnificent’ view of the Pohang cityscape and nearby Yeongil Bay.

The Hamburg-based artist duo behind the design, Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth, explain: "SpaceWalk references the local mythology of the Pohang region and the prominent Korean tradition of watching the skies.

"With its characteristic curves and loops, [it] initially puts one in mind of a roller coaster… however, this imposing artwork plays a subtle game with the concepts of speed and acceleration."

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They went on to say: "The title ‘SpaceWalk’ is taken from the terminology of outer space missions.

"It describes the act of exiting the space vehicle in the weightlessness of outer space. More literally, ‘SpaceWalk’ can be understood to mean ‘a walk through space."

Mutter and Genth have dreamt up some amazing structures in the past, too. In 2011, the Hamburg pair unveiled the fairground ride-esque ‘Tiger and Turtle – Magic Mountain’ in Duisburg, Germany, which is still considered as a major attraction to this day.

SpaceWalk is free to access and for more information, visit www.phaenomedia.org.

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Topics: Travel, World News, Technology

Anish Vij

Anish has an MA in Multimedia Journalism and is passionate about delivering sarcastic/mildly amusing content. After studying business at undergrad, Anish realised that he’d much prefer getting paid to rant about a topic, rather than to find a solution to it. Apart from that, he loves the ‘Four F’s’, as he calls it - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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